Category Archives: Politics

“Akademische Kompetenz gegen dumme Aussage”

Deutsche Welle Meinung: Trump, Johnson und das Gift des Populismus. “Lügen und Rechtsbrüche der Regierung sind der Stoff, der Demokratien schleichend zerstören können. Sie wirken nicht anders auf Gesellschaften, als Gift auf Oppositionelle, meint Martin Muno.”

“Wie toxisch jahrelange populistische Herrschaft wirkt, sieht man derzeit in den USA. Wenn eine sachliche Auseinandersetzung zwischen Demokraten und Republikanern immer weniger möglich wird, wenn es ernsthafte Gedankenspiele gibt, dass das Ergebnis der Präsidentenwahl im November nicht anerkannt werden könnte, wenn bewaffnete Milizen in den Straßen patrouillieren, dann ist es bis zum geistigen Bürgerkrieg nicht mehr weit.

Populismus vergiftet also ganze Gesellschaften – sei es in den USA, Großbritannien, Polen oder Ungarn. Und führt die jeweiligen Staaten näher an diejenigen, in denen Oppositionelle ganz buchstäblich vergiftet werden.”

“Fight for the things that you care about, but do it in a way that will lead others to join you.” RBG

The New York Times: Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Supreme Court’s Feminist Icon, Is Dead at 87. “The second woman appointed to the Supreme Court, Justice Ginsburg’s pointed and powerful dissenting opinions earned her late-life rock stardom.”

“Wendy W. Williams, an emeritus professor of law at Georgetown University Law Center and Justice Ginsburg’s authorized biographer, wrote in a 2013 article that Ms. Ginsburg’s litigation campaign succeeded in “targeting, laser-like, the complex and pervasive legal framework that treated women as yin and men as yang, and either rewarded them for their compliance with sex-appropriate role behavior or penalized them for deviation from it.“

Professor Williams continued: “She saw that male and female were viewed in law and beyond as a natural duality — polar opposites interconnected and interdependent by nature or divine design — and she understood that you couldn’t untie one half of that knot.“ Male plaintiffs were thus essential to the project of dismantling what Justice Ginsburg referred to as “sex-role pigeonholing.“ Sex discrimination hurt both men and women, and both stood to be liberated by Ruth Ginsburg’s vision of sex equality.”

Slate.com: What Ruth Bader Ginsburg Would Want America to Do Now
Throughout all of the late-breaking notorious fame, the justice knew that she was just one link in the chain..

“America has lost a warrior and it’s OK to be crushed. I am flattened. And I will mourn, because she deserves to be mourned. But we are also facing an almighty battle that will rage in the coming weeks, with attempts to fill her seat in an unseemly and grotesque manner. It will be hard, and painful, but if you find yourself feeling hopeless and powerless, then you are empathically doing it wrong. Because if anyone had a right to say “nah,“ it was the woman who couldn’t get a job or a clerkship after graduating at the top of her class. But she pushed on, and then she pushed forward. She stepped into the fight of the phenomenal women who paved the path before, and now, well, it’s time to step into her fight and get it finished. I think the Notorious RBG would have peered owlishly out at all of us tonight and asked what the heck we are waiting for. And I think we can probably honor her best by getting to it.”

Barack Obama on Medium.com: My Statement on the Passing of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

“Four and a half years ago, when Republicans refused to hold a hearing or an up-or-down vote on Merrick Garland, they invented the principle that the Senate shouldn’t fill an open seat on the Supreme Court before a new president was sworn in.

A basic principle of the law — and of everyday fairness — is that we apply rules with consistency, and not based on what’s convenient or advantageous in the moment. The rule of law, the legitimacy of our courts, the fundamental workings of our democracy all depend on that basic principle. As votes are already being cast in this election, Republican Senators are now called to apply that standard. The questions before the Court now and in the coming years — with decisions that will determine whether or not our economy is fair, our society is just, women are treated equally, our planet survives, and our democracy endures — are too consequential to future generations for courts to be filled through anything less than an unimpeachable process.”

ACLU: In Memory of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg (1933-2020).

“She began Harvard Law School as a young mother and one of only nine women in her class, and became the architect of a legal strategy to eradicate gender discrimination in the United States. She modeled her approach after that of Thurgood Marshall on race discrimination, planning for a series of cases at the Supreme Court, each precedent paving the way for the next that would further expand rights and protections. In 1993, she joined the court as an associate justice, and over the decades became a cultural icon beloved for her vision and passion in defending the rights of women.”

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Zunehmend Kritik von Republikanern

Deutsche Welle: Opinion: People die as Donald Trump lets the pandemic rage. “More than 130,000 people have died of COVID-19 in the US — and the number of cases is exploding. Yet President Donald Trump refuses to take action. DW’s Ines Pohl fears that the United States is heading for disaster.” By Ines Pohl.

“The coronavirus is particularly spreading in the regions that Trump needs for his reelection. Hospitals are filled to capacity, and the number of infections is expected to rise in the wake of last weekend’s July 4th celebrations.

Finally, mayors and governors in many Republican states — even Texas — have made face masks mandatory in situations where socially distancing is not possible. Fewer people are attending Trump’s rallies, and his efforts to distract voters from the catastrophic consequences of his failure to react to the pandemic seem to be failing.

Even some prominent Republicans have expressed their doubts about him or warned of the dangers that the United States would face should he win reelection. Many of his former supporters also seem to be waking up. They are worried as it becomes increasingly clear that they are at risk of getting seriously ill, of dying, of losing loved ones.”

Deutsche Welle: Kommentar: Der tödliche Realitätsverlust des Donald Trump. “Über 130.000 tote US-Bürger, explodierende Infektionszahlen – und Donald Trump weigert sich weiterhin, klare Schutzmaßnahmen zu erlassen. Der Präsident droht sein Land an den Abgrund zu führen, meint Ines Pohl.”

“In den vergangenen Tagen hat dieses Lügengebäude allerdings starke Risse bekommen. Gerade in Regionen, die Trump dringend für seine Wiederwahl braucht, sind die Zustände katastrophal. Hospitäler haben schon jetzt ihre Kapazitätsgrenzen erreicht, es muss damit gerechnet werden, dass nach dem vergangenen Feiertagswochenende die Zahlen weiter ansteigen.

Bürgermeister und Gouverneure ordnen jetzt die Maskenpflicht an, selbst in Staaten wie Texas. Trumps Auftritte werden von weniger Menschen besucht, seine rassistischen Einlassungen, mit denen er von der bedrohlichen Lage abzulenken versucht, bewirken bei vielen das Gegenteil. Immer mehr Republikaner üben offene Kritik und warnen vor seiner Wiederwahl.

Anders als der Staatsführer selbst scheinen viele Bürgerinnen und Bürger nunmehr aufzuwachen. Die Angst, ernsthaft zu erkranken, vielleicht sogar zu sterben oder Familienangehörige durch COVID-19 zu verlieren wird spürbarer in dem Land, das vor knapp vier Jahren Donald Trump ins Weiße Haus gewählt hat.”

Things I don’t understand

The Washington Post: Trump administration sends letter withdrawing U.S. from World Health Organization over coronavirus response.

“The Trump administration has sent a letter to the United Nations withdrawing the United States from the World Health Organization over its handling of the coronavirus pandemic, a dramatic move that could reshape public health diplomacy.
The notice of withdrawal was delivered to United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres, said a senior administration official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the letter has not been made public. Under the terms of a joint resolution passed by Congress in 1948, the United States must give a year’s notice in writing and pay its debts to the agency in order to leave.
It is not clear whether the president can pull the United States out of the organization and withdraw funding without Congress. When Trump first threatened to withdraw, Democratic lawmakers argued that doing so would be illegal and vowed to push back.”

The Washington Post: A high-risk Florida teen who died from covid-19 attended a huge church party, then was given hydroxychloroquine by her parents, report says.

“A medical examiner’s report recently made public, however, has raised questions about Carsyn’s case. The Miami-Dade County Medical Examiner found that the immunocompromised teen went to a large church party with roughly 100 other children where she did not wear a mask and social distancing was not enforced. Then, after getting sick, nearly a week passed before she was taken to the hospital, and during that time her parents gave her hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malarial drug touted by President Trump that the Food and Drug Administration has issued warnings about, saying usage could cause potentially deadly heart rhythm problems.
Carsyn’s case, which gained renewed interest on Sunday after it was publicized by Florida data scientist Rebekah Jones, drew fierce backlash from critics, including a number of medical professionals, who condemned the actions taken by the teen’s family in the weeks before her death.”

“Trump hat einen unglaublichen Machtinstinkt.”

Deutsche Welle: Philosoph Hösle: Trump zeigt “klassische Strategie eines Diktators”. “Für den Philosophen Vittorio Hösle steht das transatlantische Verhältnis an einem Scheideweg. Im Falle einer Wiederwahl von US-Präsident Trump hält er ein Auseinanderfallen für möglich.”

“Falls Trump als Präsident wiedergewählt wird…
…wird es um die Einheit des Westens noch viel schlimmer stehen als jetzt schon. Aus dem Bolton-Bericht wissen wir, dass Trump eigentlich aus der NATO austreten wollte. Und im Falle seiner Wiederwahl würde er jede weitere Gelegenheit nutzen, die europäischen Länder zu demütigen. In seinem Weltbild spielt Europa kaum eine Rolle. Er hat im Grunde das Weltbild eines Mobsters, eines Clanchefs, der die Welt in Einflusssphären einteilt nach dem Motto “Dieser Teil der Stadt ist für meine Drogenhändler, der andere ist für dich”. Ansonsten hat er keinerlei Verständnis für Verfassung oder Gewaltenteilung. Das verachtet er alles. Deshalb: Wenn er wiedergewählt wird, wird es noch düsterer werden.”

“Vittorio Hösle, am 25. Juni 1960 als Sohn einer italienischer Mutter und eines deutschen Vaters in Mailand geboren, lehrt seit rund 20 Jahren an der University of Notre Dame im US.Bundesstaat Indiana.Zuvor war er an Universitäten in Deutschland und der Schweiz tätig und leitete das Forschungsinstitut für Philosophie in Hannover. Hösle ist Beiratsmitglied im “Komitee für eine Demokratische UNO“. Papst Franziskus berief ihn 2013 in die Päpstliche Akademie der Sozialwissenschaften.”